A Lake County judge on Friday ordered a fitness evaluation for the father of a 10-year-old Waukegan girl who police said was confined to the basement of her home because her parents believed she was possessed by demons, according to authorities.
Lake County Circuit Judge Mark Levitt said statements by Randy Swopes, 48, gave him “pause” as to whether he is fully capable of understanding the proceedings against him. Swopes is acting as his own attorney.
Swopes and his wife Katherine Swopes both faces charges of child endangerment and unlawful restraint, which carry potential prison terms of one to three years in prison or a probationary sentence upon conviction.
Levitt ordered that Swopes undergo a psychological examination while remaining in Lake County Jail to determine whether he is fit for hearings and trial or in need of treatment.
During court hearings Wednesday and Friday, Randy Swopes said his daughter told him prominent local judges, attorneys and family members engaged in rituals with her such as drinking blood and using drugs until she saw “dark images” that Swopes said “they claimed were demons.”
Swopes also said he “baptized” the girl and can cleanse others who are similarly afflicted.
After Levitt halted the hearing and said he felt a psychological examination was needed, Swopes said he was only relating what he was told, and earlier he said she was his daughter and he believed her.
Levitt ordered that the examination take place locally within the next week, and scheduled an Aug. 9 status hearing.
The girl’s mother, Katherine Swopes, 49, who has also been granted authority to act as her own attorney, scored a court victory Friday by successfully arguing she should be released on a recognizance (or signature) bond rather than continuing to be held on $100,000 bail.
A hearing on a motion filed by Katherine Swopes was heard after Randy Swopes’ hearing was completed.
Although Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Humke argued the girl was forced to live in the basement for a year, dealing with flooding when it rained and using a bucket to bathe, and that Katherine Swopes should not be released, Levitt said Katherine Swopes had no prior record and the charges against her were likely to result in some sort of probation anyway.
She had argued that she is in danger of losing her subsidized housing if she remains in jail, and that she had no money to post bond.
“I live right down the street,” she said. “I’ve lived in Waukegan 49 years. I’m not going anywhere,” she told the judge.
Levitt imposed strict conditions to her release, including no contact with her minor children, who have been placed in foster homes, and no contact of any type with her husband, Randy Swopes.
She is being allowed contact with two adult children who live in the family home.
Katherine Swopes was also assigned an Aug. 9 status update.
Randy Swopes remains in custody on $750,000 bond and was not allowed to argue his bond reduction motion prior to the fitness evaluation.
The case began July 17, when Waukegan police reportedly received an anonymous 911 call stating that someone was being held captive in the basement of the couple’s home in the 200 block of Liberty Street.
Waukegan Police Cmdr. Joe Florip, who called the situation involving the girl “horrific,” said detectives determined the daughter might have been in the basement for months with a training toilet and a bucket to use for washing herself.
According to police reports, it is believed the girl had limited contact with her minor siblings, ages 15, 13 and 7. The couple told detectives their daughter was in the basement because “they believed she was possessed by a demon,” Florip said.
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services officials said the couple’s four minor children were taken into protective custody and an investigation into the case is continuing. The girl found in the basement was hospitalized and then placed in a foster home.
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DCFS officials confirmed that Randy and Katherine Swopes have had a contact with the agency several times since 1994 and had their children removed from their care in the past.
According to a DCFS statement, in January 2008, all eight of the Swopes’ children at the time were brought into foster care “on the basis of medical neglect and physical abuse” to a son.
Randy Swopes pleaded guilty to an aggravated battery charge in that case, and a domestic battery charge was dropped, court records show. He was sentenced to 24 months probation and 250 hours of community service.
The DCFS statement said that Randy and Katherine Swopes hold some religious beliefs that question medical assistance.
The Swopes’ religious beliefs also came to light after an attorney who represented a landlord in a 1998 eviction case against the couple said it was one of the more troublesome court cases he handled.
Michael Pardys, who retired in January, said Randy Swopes, “was the strangest man I ever met. Every document he filed in court was a handwritten religious tract.”
“He told me on several occasions that he was Jesus.” Pardys said.